With the news yesterday that the Jets cut Emmanuel Cook, Rich Cimini followed up on the issue and had some insight into the reason the team cut him.

Rex Ryan declined to give a reason, saying, "Every decision we make is generally for the benefit of our football team. I’m not going to get into the specifics of what led us to make a decision." A cryptic answer, to be sure.

Sources said it stemmed from something that happened Monday during the team’s workout, the usual day-after conditioning session. The details are sketchy, but it appears the strength-and-conditioning coach thought Cook was late for the workout when he was actually there. Some close to the team believe Cook was released because one of the higher-ups in the organization was watching the workout and felt he wasn’t running hard.

According to Cimini, he goes on to write that the news came as a surprise to his teammates. Cook struggles in coverage, and that’s something the Jets safeties already have issues with, in spades. Even so, Cook was establishing himself on specials and could have been working his way into a ‘Digs’ type role in coming years. We’ll see if he stays unsigned into the offseason, and then whether or not the team tries to bring him back.

With the reaction that Cimini makes note of, it seems to me like cutting Cook was public execution to strike a little fear into his teammates. I’m glad that Rex likes the guy who will be replacing Cook, Tracy Wilson on the roster. We’ll see if he gets activated this weekend and if so, how Wilson performs on Special Teams.